Key to Kop's expansion is a strong base

THE football world knew it was coming some while ago - but confirmation that Florian Wirtz will be playing for Liverpool next season should still send a stark warning to their Premier League rivals.

- by ANDY DUNN

Make no mistake, this is a statement signing.

A few weeks ago, Liverpool boss Arne Slot told a few of us that he was looking to add “an extra weapon” to his squad.

Well, Wirtz is a footballing Swiss Army knife. He has a multitude of ways to unlock opposition defences.

The fee is quite spectacular. And some have pointed out that the maximum spend of £116m on the 22-year-old is in excess of the total being paid by Manchester City for Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki.

There are several reasons why that is largely irrelevant, one of them being that Liverpool are selectively adding to their squad from a base of great strength.